Stories: Special Agent Anderson
Story written by: Plot Set before the fateful meeting of Athena and Aurora, Athena as Special Agent Paley Anderson is set to investigate the disappearances of several people under mysterious circumstances. Things may prove difficult as the usually reserved Anderson must get used to working with others as she and her new accompanying partner Jamin must investigate a supernatural occurance. Can Athena get used to working with others? Characters ♠ - denotes a character's first appearance. ♦ - denotes a cameo, minor appearance, or mention only. ♣ - denotes a character's final appearance. * Athena * Jamin Drew ♠ * Xaphan ♠ * Thoth * Susie (Bartender) ♦ * Drunk Guy 1 ♦ * Drunk Guy 2 ♦ * Drunk Guy 3 ♦ * Policeman ♦ * Ronny ♦ * Akari ♦ * Samiel ♦ * Mercury ♦ Story Lakewood, California. 3:AM. A man pushes his way out of a pub. As he does so, two other guys are in hot pursuit. Clearly the man has messed with the wrong crowd. As he stumbles drunkenly, attempting to get away from his also drunken chasers, he accidently bumps into a man with spiky black hair wearing a black coat. Ignoring him, her turns down a dark alleyway. As he continues to run, he stumbles into a brick wall. Dead end. *'Drunk Guy 1:' Oh sh#t. The two guys corner him. As they move around him, one grabs him by his collar, and throws him to the ground. *'Drunk Guy 2:' That's what you get, you moron! *'Drunk Guy 3:' Oh boo hoo, what are you gonna do? The two of them drunkenly laugh, failing to notice the man from earlier stand at the edge of the alley. *'???:' Gentlemen? The guys turn around, and see only his outline in the glow of a nearby streetlight. As he steps forward, he appears to be wearing some kind of lab coat. *'Drunk Guy 2:' The hell do you want? *'Drunk Guy 3:' You wanna mess with us or what? The man does not respond. *'Drunk Guy 2:' Hey! You alive or what? *'???:' (Smiles) No, I'm not here to mess with you. He waves his hand. The two men are thrown off their feet and into the wall. Drunk Guy 1, no longer being attacked by the two guys, now tries to stand up, but ??? puts his foot on his back, pinning him. ??? smiles. *'???:' I'm here for something else. The flash of lightning occurs. In the brief period of the flash, the shadowy figure of huge wings can be seen "sprouting" from his back accompanied by red eyes. Elsewhere in Los Angeles, a car drives across the motorway. Inside are Egyptian god Thoth and Greek goddess Athena. Athena lies lazily in the back of the car, almost slouching. *'Thoth:' Are you asleep? *'Athena:' What? no, not yet. *'Thoth:' Well, we're about a 5 or so minutes from Lakewood, so I've been meaning to ask you something. Is there some sort of... issue over there? *'Athena:' Oh. Well, a few weeks ago, people started disappearing from Lakewood. The most recent was yesterday night, apparently. I'm being sent to investigate the disappearances, but you know me... I can't drive. *'Thoth:' Yes, indeed you can not. You're driving test was quite... spectacular. *'Athena:' Hey! I didn't fail that bad! I only hit one person! *'Thoth:' Seven times both forward and in reverse! You're lucky Viviane hasn't lost her magic healing otherwise you'd be in federal jail. *'Athena:' Pfft, you think something like jail that would stop me? There's a reason I chose to be a lawyer as well as an agent. Thoth dismisses her claim and continues to drive. Lakewood, California. 12:31 AM. The car drives down a few streets until they pull up outside a bar called "The Flying Dragon". Thoth looks out of the car window at the blazing neon-red sign. *'Thoth:' Are you sure this is the place? *'Athena:' Uh-huh. Athena waves goodbye as Thoth's car pulls off and down the street. She then proceeds to wait for a bit, before she sees a young man with brown hair and a checkered suit approach her. *'???:' Are you... Paley Anderson? *'Athena:' Uh, yeah. *'???:' Hi, I'm Jamin Drew, I'm supposed to be y-your accompanying agent, apparently. *'Athena:' What? Jamin looks into Athena's fiery grey pupils. *'Jamin:' Y-yeah, boss' orders. *'Athena:' (Below breath) Didn't he get the memo I prefer to work by myself? (She sighs reluctantly.) *'Jamin:' I-if you want, I can go and leave you be. *'Athena:' "Its boss' orders, so.." No, its... fine. You've been briefed on the situation, right? *'Jamin:' Y-yeah. *'Athena:' Look, so we're gonna go and talk to the bartender, and if its the same one that was here last night, we might be able to get some information on what happened. The two step into the Flying Dragon, which is mostly empty. She pushes her self past most of the people and approaches the bartender. She sits at a stool intently. *'Bartender:' Hi, can I... help you? *'Athena:' Yeah. I'm Special Agent Anderson, and this is my partner, Special Agent Drew. I understand there's been a couple of disappearances from here? *'Bartender:' Uh, maybe. I'm Susie, by the way. *'Athena:' Well, Susie, where you the bartender during 7-9:00pm? *'Bartender:' Eh... maybe. Athena takes a couple of photos out from her blazer's pocket. She shows them to the bartender. Jamin's eyes, meanwhile, begin to wander. *'Athena:' Do you recognize them? The bartender studies the images carefully. Her eyes look up at Athena. *'Bartender:' In fact, yeah. These three were in here yesterday. *'Athena:' Well, they've disappeared now. *'Bartender:' Really...? *'Athena:' Yep. Men, am I right? Susie chuckles. *'Athena:' So, when did you last see them? *'Susie:' It was yesterday, of course. The one here (Points to the picture of the 2nd man) was just getting another drink. I got it for him, and he drank. He, (Points to the picture of the 1st man) was sitting next to him. Someone must've bumped into him, cause he spilled a bit of his drink on him. Both are drunk, by the way. *'Athena:' Yes, drunk decisions do make the best stories. *'Susie:' He, (Points at picture of 1st man again) got super pissed and took a swipe at him. It... escalates into a big fight. He, (Points at the picture of the third man) got involved on his side, so he rushed out of the pub, with those two in pursuit. *'Athena:' (Writing notes) D*mn. What direction did they go? Susie looks up at the door. *'Susie:' I don't actually remember. *'Athena:' Right. Well, Susie, I appreciate the information you've given me. *'Susie:' Its no problem. They shake hands. Athena then heads out of the door. With the notes she has, she begins to do some thinking. *'Jamin:' So...? *'Athena:' So they went out, and could've either gone left or right. I'll head left then. You go right, see if there's a path they could've taken. Jamin nods, and begins to head right, with Athena subsequently heading left. As she walks, she notices a small alleyway. *'Athena:' Huh. She heads into the alleyway. She looks around, but can't seem to pick up anything at all. She does however, notice something. A broken beer bottle. She puts on some gloves and picks up the most intact part of the bottle and studies it. Athena wonders if this was a beer bottle was from the Flying Dragon. Jamin walks past a jewelry store. He's nervous as a pig right now, if that's even a used phrase. He feels expected to live up to Paley's expectations, if she had any, but he still feels pressure on him. He notices something on the floor ahead of him, and goes to pick it up, before he panic and remembers what he'd been told. He manages to put on his gloves and picks it up. Bingo. Its a driver's license, for a William Quillan. He excitedly leans to pick it up. He studies it for a while before trotting back to Athena. He sees her with the broken beer bottle. *'Jamin:' Hi, look what I found. *'Athena:' What is that? Athena picks up the driver's license, before taking out the pictures of the three missing men and compares the two pictures. It matches one of the three men. *'Athena:' Huh. You might be on to something. (She looks up at the sky) Its 12:00, so we should probably get some sleep. She begins to walk right. Jamin catches up to her. *'Athena:' Have you booked for the hotel too? *'Jamin:' Uhh... yeah. *'Athena:' Which room? *'Jamin:' Uhhh... (He fumbles around in his pocket for the hotel key) 103. *'Athena:' Heh. (She flashes her hotel keys) 069. Jamin quietly sniggers under his breath, before he laughs. Athena follows NEXT DAY Athena wakes up. She brushes her teeth, before combing her hair to get her ideal look. She puts on her jeans and shirt, before putting on her shoes. She finally puts on her blazer before putting on her fedora in front of the mirror. Later, she and Jamin meet in the dining area for breakfast. She sits at the table with a decent pile of food. *'Athena:' You get any sleep? *'Jamin:' Yeah. *'Athena:' So, I've had the bottle and the wallet sent off to be tested. For now we'll just have to wait for any results to come in. In the meantime, there's a Mexican restaurant I saw down the street, might try that for lunch. Jamin nods quietly. Athena notices him in deep thought. *'Athena:' You got something on your mind? *'Jamin:' ... Yeah, I guess. *'Athena:' What is it? *'Jamin:' I'm just thinking... How many people have disappeared...? *'Athena:' (Thinking) So far... now 12. Jamin's somewhat disturbed at that number count. *'Jamin:' Have you... reviewed the other cases...? *'Athena:' Not yet, but I'll do it after I'm done eating. (She notices Jamin's small plate) You eating that? Later, Athena and Jamin are in the investigating room of the police station. They have pictures laid out all over the wall and some of the table in front of them. *'Athena:' -"He" disappeared two weeks ago. She disappeared 4 days after. And that brings up to these three. *'Jamin:' How come... there all by themselves...? *'Athena:' I honestly thought that was the pattern, but there's these three. And there's the different kidnapping... you'd call it methods, I don't know what to call them. Jamin begins splitting the pictures up into groups. *'Athena:' What are you- *'Jamin:' Look. These 3 where taken in that alleyway, probably drunk. These three were supposedly out by themselves. He was last seen getting in a car, and those two were taken in their houses by themself. Nearly all of them where by themselves or in a like a, I guess vulnerable state. *'Athena:' Yeah, but all of them are in their mid 20's or early 30's. I think this kidnapper's taking people in... I guess prime condition? *'Jamin:' I... I think you may be... overthinking this. *'Athena:' What? *'Jamin:' Why would they go after specifically people in that... age group? *'Athena:' Huma- I mean people, are weird sometimes, you know? Like there's- A policeman walks into the room, he's on the phone. *'Policeman:' Uh-huh. Thank you. Bye. Ends call Agents...? Hate to interrupt, but we just received a phone call from a guy who claimed to have seen something on the night of the disappearances. Athena and Jamin looks up from their work. *'Athena:' Really? Did he give an address or something? *'Policeman:' Uh, yeah. (He hands Jamin a piece of paper with it written down, which Athena takes.) *'Athena:' We'll head there immediately. *'Policeman:' Okay then. Athena beckons for Jamin to follow her. *'Athena:' First, we get lunch. Insert random montage of Athena and Jamin eating mexican food. Later, the two walk up to a small brick house. *'Jamin:' Why... did we have to walk the whole way? *'Athena:' I can't drive. *'Jamin:' I... I don't think that's something to be... proud of...? *'Athena:' (Trying to steer the conversation) Nice place. Athena and Jamie walk up to the door, and Athena knocks. A few seconds later, a man steps out. *'Athena:' Are you Ronny? *'Ronny:' Yeah. *'Athena:' Special Agent Anderson, and this is my partner, Agent Drew. I understand you had something you've seen you wanted to talk about? *'Ronny:' Yeah. Come on in, if you want. Cut to the three of them sitting at a sofa or a chair. *'Athena:' So what happened? *'Ronny:' It was night. Maybe 2 or 3 am. I was walking back from the pub, when I heard this awful commotion. It sounded like, 2 or three people. Then they stopped talking. So I looked back behind me to see what had happened, and then, there was a divot where I knew there was an alleyway between the Superdrug and that other building, and I saw this thing take off from where the alleyway was. Jamin raises his eyebrows slightly. Athena's intrigued. *'Athena:' What did the thing look like? *'Ronny:' I couldn't tell. It had big black wings, I think maybe, like a big bird. *'Athena:' Could you tell me the... wingspan? *'Ronny:' It looked nearly... I dunno, 30ft, if I had to guess? *'Jamin:' Woah... *'Athena:' Well, I... appreciate the information, regardless of how... strange it is. They shake hands and depart. Athena and Jamie are just a bit outside the house discussing. *'Jamin:' I... I have a hard time believing what I just heard. *'Athena:' I'm just thinking... if they really were carried off by some flying thing, that's why the wallet was there... maybe it had dropped from him while it was in the sky? Athena and Jamin need time to think on it. But it's 5:03 am. Now, they're tired. *'Jamin:' I'm gonna call an uber driver. *'Athena:' Yeah, sure. Jamin calls an uber driver. After a few minutes, a car pulls up. Inside is a man with spiky black hair and wearing a coat over something white. *'Jamin:' (To the driver) Huh, you're not the guy I called. *'???:' Yeah, sorry about that, dude's off sick. Sent me to pick you guys up. Where you two heading? *'Athena:' (Suspicious) Can you take us to the Hampton Inn? *'???:' Sure. ??? puts the co-ordinates into his phone as Athena and Jamin get in. As they drive, the uber driver tries to make small talk. *'???:' So, you two like a... couple or something? Jamin goes mildly red, Athena seems mildly annoyed. *'Athena:' No. We're investigating the recent disappearances round here. ??? looks away as she says this. *'???:' Oh. Made any leads... yet? *'Jamin:' (To Athena) Are we supposed to tell him? *'Athena:' (She shrugs, before looking back at ???) No, not... yet, anyway. *'???:' Oh. The driver remains silent for the rest of the journey. Eventually, they see the inn, but as they approach it, ??? begins to drive away from it. *'Jamin:' H-hey, the hotel's- *'Athena:' Yeah! Where are we goi- ??? turns slightly and with his hand, Athena and Jamin are forced down onto the seat by an unknown force. Athena struggles, but she can't manage to lift herself up. ??? turns to face them, his eyes glowing red. *'???:' Journey's not over yet. We're in for a real ride. They begin to pull away from the city. Athena looks around, trying to evaluate her options. Screw it, she thinks. She focuses, and using all her concentration available, she tips the car slightly, causing Jamin to smack his head into her chest and ??? to lose his hold on the two of them. Mostly unfazed, Athena materializes a blade in her right hand while managing to undo her seatbelt with her left and attempts to stab ??? in the back of the head. ??? ducks and with one hand on the wheel, uses another telekinetic force to push Anthena into the seat. Athena thinks for a bit before she makes her decision. Using her strength she begins to tip the car over. ??? looks in surprise before the whole thing tips over with a tremendous crash. After a few minutes, the car is overturned. Athena has her arms around Jamin, almost like a hug to shelter him from the wreck. As she unwraps her arms around Jamin, she can feel the car collapsing in on them. With both of her hands, she tries to keep the car from crushing Jamin and her. *'Athena:' Jamin? You awake? *'Jamin:' Y-yeah... They hear a huge crunch. Athena and Jamin slightly turn their heads to see ??? tearing his way out of the car. They watch as he fully frees himself, and turns back to look at the car with his glowing red eyes, before a pair of huge black wings sprout from his back, and he takes off into the air. *'Athena:' Did you see that? *'Jamin:' Y-yeah! What was... that? *'Athena:' I don't know, we need to get out of this car otherwise we're gonna get squashed like peanut butter! Athena attempts to flip the car back over again, but shards of glass begin falling from the ruined window. Jamin covers his eyes to keep them out. *'Athena' Great. She shuffles around, managing to get her legs near the car door. She tries to kick it. It budges slightly. She kicks it again, dislodging it slightly. She then kicks with both of her legs, and manages to dislodges the door. *'Athena:' Hey Jamin, can you try... try and squeeze past me and crawl out? Jamin does so, and manages to get himself out of the car. Despite having a nose bleed and a few bruises, Athena's use of herself as a human shield prevented any serious damage. Athena manages to follow suit, looking relatively unharmed. As the two get up, Athena remembers her sword, and it flies back into her hand. She also remembers that Jamin's watching. She turns to face him, holding the sword in her hand. *'Jamin:' Why do you... have that? *'Athena:' I... It was a... gift from my dad. *'Jamin:' You're... lying. *'Athena:' What? *'Jamin:' Who... No, what are you...? *'Athena:' Hmmph. Well then, Jamin Drew, maybe you'll recognize me by my name. Athena. Goddess of Wisdom. Spear of Knowledge. Her eyes glow white, which causes Jamin to step back. *'Jamin:' Y-you're Athena? *'Athena:' Oh, so you do know me? Jamin begins to back further away from her as he lights of the car begin to flicker rapidly.. *'Jamin:' Yeah, you're on the Great Seal of California! *'Athena:' Well, why do you think I live here now? *'Jamin:' I...- *'Athena:' Now, you can either keep your mouth shut, or you can pretend this never happened, cause if you do... They'll be one more disappearance for them to solve. Jamin nervously agrees. They begin to hear police sirens nearby. Athena looks towards both the police cars and an ambulance as they begin to pull up. ---- Jamin walks out of the hospital. He'd been in there for the past few days, waiting for his injuries to get better. In that time, he had been thinking. Thinking on everything that had happened. That thing that attacked in the car, its wings, and then there was Paley. Paley was a goddess? Understandably, he'd heard of godlike entities appearing before, Galaximus was the obvious, but like most people, he thought the pagans were just myths, legends, stories he and many others had been told in school or around the campfire. Now that he knew they were real? It just made him nervous the fact he had spent the past two days talking with a goddess of all things. He approaches his car and gets in. A 15 minute drive later, he's at the police station, where Athena had told him to meet him after he was done. He walks into the station, and after some clearing up with the police man, he walks into the room he and Athena had discussed in. And there she was, wearing that grey suit and fedora. Now that he knew who she was, he felt more intimidated by those grey pupils than ever. *'Athena:' Hello. *'Jamin:' Hi Ath- Paley. *'Athena:' You doing okay? *'Jamin:' B-better than before. *'Athena:' Good. Just to clear you up on what's happened, the results on the wallet and the bottle were tested. The fingerprints on them match up with he three missing men. And, I' think I've found the guy that attacked us 2 days ago. She takes out a picture of a man, who resembles the man who'd attacked them earlier. *'Athena:' Zander Pheross. Some sort of scientist. Born and raised in Yugoslavia during WW2, later left to America when the country broke apart. *'Jamon:' Well, now... what? *'Athena:' Well, judging from our skirmish, he's probably a Dr. Zach type of character, you know, mad scientist, probably kidnaps minors to give them superpowers, you know, that sort of stuff. Tracking him may have proved difficult. *'Jamin:' So then... how do we find him...? *'Athena:' Well, I have a plan. 2:03 AM. Athena is walking along the side of the road. little device. As she passes an alleyway, Zander, the man with spiky black hair appears from behind her, keeping his distance as he follows her. Meanwhile, a car is parked up on the other side of the street, watching from a distance. In this car is Jamin, who's watching both of them. *'Jamin:' He's just appeared behind you. *'Athena:' Whispering Okay, how far is he? *'Jamin:' He's... maybe... 10 or 20 yards behind you?... *'Athena:' Alright, I'll keep walking. Athena keeps walking, trying not to look behind her. Eventually after a few minutes more of walking, she feels a push on her, and she's slammed into the wall of the building on her left. She at first attempts to get up, but then, she has a more clever idea. She pretends to lay unconscious. Jamin isn't sure if he should do something, but he decides to keep watching. Athena pretends to be unconscious. She feels the footsteps of Zander approach from behind her and grab her by the collar of her neck and shirt. She then hears the unfolding of what she believes are his wings, and they're in the air. Jamin watches as the man lifts off into the air. With that, he starts up the car and begins to follow, trying his best to keep a low profile. He follows the winged figure towards an old abandoned office building. He parks up out of the thing's sight. Jamin quietly gets out of the car, and watches as the thing lands, still holding Athena and picks her up with both of his arms. He kicks open the door with his foot and walks into the building. Jamin then heads back to the car for his pistol. Meanwhile, Zander, carrying his latest victim, gently drops her onto the floor. He approaches an out of place steel door. As he approaches the door, he uses his telekinesis to lift it open up, before picking up Athena and descending down a flight of stairs. He carries Athena and places her on she assumes is an operating table. She then feels her arms and legs get strapped to the table. Then, like she was at the dentist, she feels the table begin to rotate, eventually stopping at 45 degrees. With that, she finally opens her eyes. *'Athena:' Where am I? She appears to be in a lab of sorts, with a faintly flickering lightbulb. It reminded her of a lab where psychopaths would work in, or an abandoned hospital. She watches as Zander emerges from the darkness. *'Zander:' That's not important. What's important is that you're still alive, Paley Anderson. Or should I say, Athena? Her cover is blown. *'Athena:' Alright, you got me. But who are you? What have you done to those people kidnapped? *'Zander:' Oh, Pagans. So impatient and petty. Athena eye twitches. She's even more determined to kick his butt. *'Athena:' You're a demon, aren't you? *'Zander:' No, not a demon. My title is Fanner of the Flames of the Abyss. But you, wisdom goddess, you may know me as... Xaphan. *'Athena:' Xaphan... wait, you're a fallen angel? *'Xaphan:' I am one of the oldest of Lucifer's army. I may be no general but where I lack in skill is replaced in intellect. Xaphan's eyes glow red in the dark as he laughs manically. *'Athena:' Okay, look, where are all those people you kidnapped? *'Xaphan:' Oh, I'm glad you asked. He snaps his fingers. 3 figures emerge from the shadows behind him, all with glowing red eyes like him. They appear to match the people that had gone missing. *'Xaphan:' Let's say I've given them the "demon treatment". *'Athena:' You've possessed them with demons? *'Xaphan:' Getting demons to earth is difficult. There's just so many complications, issues with travelling between dimensions, then there's that whole "consent" thing, which is ridiculous, really. So when I managed to get here, I wanted a way to override that nonsense. And so, I began developing A.D.M.O.S. Artificial Demonic Mind Overrider System. Athena sees a large device held over her head at a 45 degree angle. It almost resembles a particle accelerator, with dark pink-purple glowing rings. *'Xaphan:' This machine can fire a concentrated beam through the mind of a being, allowing a demon to enter its body and therefore mind with greater ease, no need for permission. It's so quick I could, heh, probably get it done with the snap of my fingers. This prototype is already finished, and these lovely gentlemen here and just so happened to be the first to be tested. *'???:' Yes... *'???:' Before A.D.M.O.S, it would've taken us years to all get together, but Xaphan here has found a way... *'Xaphan:' Indeed I have. And that brings us to you, Athena. A Pagan like you would make a fine, powerful host for Beelzebub. Athena's eyes are wide open. *'Athena:' Oh no no no no, I'm not letting corpse-breath take over my body just so you can show of your device to her. *'Xaphan:' That's not a thing you can control at the moment... *'Athena:' (She laughs lightly) Actually, it is. *'Xaphan:' (He laughs as well, thinking she's joking) Well, what are you going to do? *'Athena:' This. Athena breaks her cuffs with ease. Taking off her blazer, a spear appears in her hand as the demons surround her. *'Xaphan:' (Stepping backwards) Kill her. The demons charge forward. Athena quickly stabs one through the head with one end of the spear, before pulling out and with a backwards thrust, stabs it through the heart of another demon. She then knocks the other one over with a telekinetic push. Xaphan then fires a fireball at her, hitting her and knocking her over. About that time, Jamin approaches the steel door. He manages to push it open and sees a long line of descending stairs. At the bottom, though, he can see the occasional faint glow of something orange as well as the crashing of metallic noises. He descends down the stairs, dreading what he may find at the bottom, yet he tries to keep his resolve. When he gets to the bottom, he comes across a small hallway with a number of doors, and in the room on his left, he can see the ruckus coming from. *'Jamin:' Athena?... He turns and opens the door to see Athena and Xaphan fighting each other. Athena's holding a double-ended spear, which Xaphan has a hold of and is holding with one hand. He watches as Xaphan throws her across the room. He takes out his pistol before being attacked by the remaining demon. It attempts to grab his gun off him, but he kicks it in the crown jewels before he manages to shoot it in the head. As the demon stagger back, the gunshot alerts both Athena and Xaphan. *'Athena:' Jamin? *'Xaphan:' Now, who's this? You're little friend? Jamin fires his pistol, first at Xaphan's leg and at his head. He seems unfazed, and turns to throws a fireball at him, hitting him in the chest, and knocking him to the floor. With that distraction, Athena uses it to tackle Xaphan into the operating table and attempts to pin his arms. Her spear flies back into her hand and she attempt to skewer his head with the spear. Xaphan manages to move his head to the side, the spear impaling into the table, before his smouldering black wings unfold and he lifts himself off into the ceiling, knocking Athena off him. His wing gets caught by the spear and he hits the ceiling and falls onto the floor. As he gets up, retracting his wings, he attempts to shoot another fireball at Athena, but Jamin fires at his face again, distracting him. *'Xaphan:' Getting very tired of this, Athena. He holds out his hand, and Jamin gets pulled towards Xaphan, and his fingers constrict around Jamin's neck. *'Xaphan:' Attack me, and his neck goes bye-bye. *'Jamin:' (Strangling noises) *'Athena:' Not today, angel boy. *'Xaphan:' Oh, so you do care about him? Guess Pagans aren't as an uncaring as I've been told. That really grinds Athena's divine gears. Using both of her hands, she telekinetically pushes Xaphan backwards, causing him to lose his grip on Jamin, before telekinetically throwing him into the A.D.M.O.S machine with all of her strength. What results is a largish orange explosion, accompanied by pink-red sparks and metal, destroying the A.D.M.O.S. Athena gets to Jamin, and manages to help him up. *'Athena:' Are you hurt? *'Jamin:' My head hurts... *'Athena:' Don't worry, you'll be fine, it's okay. *'Jamin:' W-who is he...? *'Athena:' It's Xaphan, he's a- The crackle of electricity gets her attention. She and Jamin turn around to see Xaphan slowly standing up, with pink-red electricity flowing out of his back in the shape of wings, with small arcs of electricity jumping across the ceiling. *'Athena:' Fallen Angel. (She helps Jamin up.) Find the other captives. I'll hold him off. *'Jamin:' O-okay. Jamn rushes off as Athena stands up. *'Athena:' Not going down that easily, huh? Xaphan doesn't respond. Instead, a bellows appear in his hands and he points it at Athena. *'Athena: ... Are those Bellows? What are you going to do, blow air at me? *'Xaphan:' Wrong again. The Bellows fire a huge stream of hell-fire at Athena, which sends her crashing through the door, taking Jamin with her and land in the corridor with the doors. Athena quickly helps him up. *'Athena:' Go! Athena gets bombarded by another storm of hell-fire. Jamin gets up and looks at the doors. All of them were open except for the one furthest from where the fight was. Ducking to avoid the crossfire, he attempts to open the door. It doesn't budge. He needs to find a way to get it open. He stands in front of the door. *'Jamin:' H-hey Xaphan...! Xaphan turns to face him, and uses the bellow to fire hell-fire at him. Jamin jumps out of the way as the force of the flames manage to push open the door. Athena, grabs the nozzle of the bellows with her hand. Xaphan tries to shoot hell-fire at her, but she simply points the nozzle away from her, making the hell-fire hit the wall instead before kicking him back. Jamin walks into the door. In the darkness, he can just see at least 8-9 figures sitting on the ground, tied up and unmoving. He looks around for any sort of light switch. Eventually, he fumbles around manages to find one, and flicks the light on. *'Jamin:' Okay... okay... He takes out a pocket knife and approaches one of the captives. He can see that they've all been gagged. He slowly begins to remove the gags off them one at the time. He can still hear Athena and Xaphan duking it out behind the door. *'No longer drunk guy:' ...Where are we? *'Jamin:' Don't worry, you'll be fine. He prompts the captives to get up. *'Jamin:' Go! go! go! Athena can faintly hear the commotion of Jamin and the prisoners. Knowing that the prisoners were safe, she tackles Xaphan, knocking the two of them back into the room, before using her telekinesis to slam the door behind them as Jamin escorts the captives to get out of the building and up the stairs. Xaphan can briefly see the captives being escorted, which infuriates him. *'Xaphan:' NO! Athena draws her two blades, but Xaphan forcefully telekinetically pushes her into the wall. As she tries to get up, he uses the Bellows to blast an intense stream of hell-fire, scorching her skin badly. He grabs her by the neck. *'Xaphan:' You'll work just as fine instead. He throws her onto the ground. As she gets up, Xaphan grabs her by the neck again and is about to slam her against the operating table. Suddenly, Athena's spear, still impaled in the table, flies out from where it was stuck in and into her hand. Before Xaphan can fight back, she stabs Xaphan right through the chest. The Angel looks down in surprise, before beginning to laugh. '' *'Xaphan:' Ha... ha... Haha... this isn't the end... goddess... I'll be back... ''She pulls the spear from his heart as he falls over. Suddenly, red smoke begins to leak from his mouth as Jamin walks into the room. He looks at the red smoke as it congeals before darting out of the room in a fast mannerism. He looks at Athena in bewilderment. *'Jamin:' What was that? *'Athena:' Xaphan hasn't got a host anyway. He's gonna have to head back to Hell now. Anyway...? *'Jamin:' I've called the police. They'll be here in twenty minutes at best. Athena puts her fedora back on her head and puts her blazer back on. She picks up the two blades and retracts her spear. *'Athena:' That was my first good fight in yyears. *'Jamin:' How long are we talking... years? *'Athena:' Give or take... 400 years. She pats Jamin on the shoulder. *'Athena:' Good job, by the way. *'Jamin:' Uhhh... Than- They hear police sirens again. The two look at each other as they begin to head out of the room to confront the approaching law. ---- A day later, Athena is waiting by the side of the road when Thoth's car pulls up. She approaches the vehicle and gets in. *'Athena:' Hi Thoth. *'Thoth:' So, how was it...? *'Athena:' ... Good. had to work with some other guy for this. Quite nice, actually. Turns out they were being kidnapped by a Fallen Angel to turn them into demons. *'Thoth:' Fallen Angel?... Did he happen to have a name? *'Athena:' Uh-huh. Xaphan. *'Thoth:' ...Xaphan. Interesting. Did he have the bellows? *'Athena:' Yep. They shoot hell-fire. An hour passes. *'Athena:' Hey, think we could take a quick detour? *'Thoth:' Why so...? *'Athena:' I'll explain when we get there. Eventually, they arrive at what looks like a museum-like building, only a lot smaller. *'Thoth:' Are we sure this will work? *'Athena:' She's been doing this for 567 years. She's good at it. They open the door. They are greeted by a Japanese woman in a fancy outfit. *'???:' Greetings, Athena. Your beauty still shines bright. *'Athena:' Yes, you two, I guess. This is Thoth, by the way. He's an Egyptian God. Thoth nervously shakes Akari's hand. *'Akari:' Now, I presume you have... brought something here, haven't you? *'Athena:' Yes. Akari escorts them inside the building, which is in fact a grand hallway of artifacts, armor, and weapons, all either hung up on the walls or in intricate display. Athena looks around for a bit, before she brings out the Bellows and hands it to Akari. *'Akari:' What is this...? *'Athena:' These are the bellows wielded by the Fallen Angel Xaphan. They... shoot Hell-fire. A powerful weapon from a powerful angel. Akari takes the bellows and studies it, before turning away from the two of them and pointing it upward to fire a small stream of hell-fire down the corridor. Impressed, she looks back at the two. *'Akari:' Hmm... yes... I'll take it. You have brought me something quite rare indeed... such an item like this is hard to find. It will make a fine addition to my collection. Samiel! Take the item, I will decide where it will go best. A young man with platinum blonde hair steps out from behind Akari and takes the Bellows. Athena, however notices something, but before she can say anything about it: *'Thoth:' We'll be... leaving right now. Waving goodbye, Athena and Thoth head back to the car. *'Thoth:' But look, are you sure this is the right choice? *'Athena:' Yeah. It took me ages to find her place. She's very good at what she does. *'Thoth:' Alright. So am I driving you home or...? *'Athena:' I guess so. Eventually, they reach Athena's house in Los Angeles, 10:00pm. She waves Thoth goodbye before taking out her keys and unlocking the door. She hangs up her fedora and takes off her shoes, and as she reaches the sofa, she falls asleep on the couch. Two months later. Athena is brushing her teeth when she hears a knock on the door. Still only wearing a vest, she finishes up as quick as possible. *'Athena:' One second! She gets up to the door and opens it. But there's nobody there. *'Athena:' Huh. So this is what ding dong ditch feels like. She feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns her head to see what it was. Still nothing. When she gets tapped again, she turns around as fast as she can. Eventually, she sees a young slim man with black hair wearing a red t-shirt. *'???:' Surprise! *'Athena:' Hermes...? He zooms past her and is sitting on her single sofa. *'???:' Ohhh... no, it's actually Mercury, sorry. Kinda makes me a bit more powerful with that name, you know? *'Athena:' Well, Mercury... what brings you here? Let me guess, In a sarcastic manner Your a pizza man now? Mercury nods before he zooms off, and is now holding an actual pizza box. *'Athena:' Oh. Guess you've steeped lower than I ever thought you could. *'Mercury:' Do you want one or not? Athena hesitantly takes a slice and begins eating. *'Athena:' Slightly muffled Look, what is it...? *'Mercury:' Its a message from dad. Athena's eyes widen. She swallows before looking up at the speedster. *'Athena:' What...? Mercury hands Athena an envelope. Instead of a stamp, there's a little hand-drawn lightning bolt. *'Mercury:' Look, I'm on break right now and the boss is quite strict, so see ya! Mercury zooms off. Athena closes the door with a little telekinetic push before she sits down to open her dad's letter. *'Athena:' Okay, Dad, this better be good... Dear Daughter, If you're reading this, I knew you'd resurface again. It was always your thing exploring the world and its secrets, and I know that being here in America will strengthen that desire. I am here too, and so are the rest of us. Perhaps you were right. Olympus has been abandoned, failed to be up kept in these dwindling times, but perhaps there will be a time of change. But I have not written to you for forgiveness, because I know that you will not wish to grant me that, and perhaps you never will, and I have accepted that. I have a task for you. One that is not a request, but an order. An order from your king, and your father. There is an address at the bottom of this letter. You must go to it. There is a girl there, whos fate will play into the hands of the universe itself. When you reach her, you will know what to do. You must protect her with your life, for black fire burns in the air. ADDRESS along with what appears to be a room number. There's another insignia of a lightning bolt at the bottom. *'Athena:' (Fighting back tears) So this is it, dad? You're speaking in riddles now? But, I guess an order is an order, so very well, dad. She gets up, and approaches her coat rack. She begins to get ready to leave, putting her shirt and shoes on, before putting on her blazer. And as she finally puts on her fedora, her eyes glimmer white in the shadow. (THE END) Category:Stories Category:Stories by ItzXenos Category:Solo stories Category:Finished stories